Job seeker Vicki Fullilove waits in line at a job fair in Michigan. Jackson County's unemployment rate rose in July due to seasonal layoffs of school support staff, according to a state report.(MLive File Photo)

JACKSON,
MI – Jackson County saw a jump in the July unemployment rate due primarily to summer
layoffs of support staff at local schools, according to a state report.

Unemployment
in the county rose 0.4 percent despite less people entering the labor force, the
report read. Jackson County's unemployment rate – which was the same this time
last year – rests at 9.8 percent, up from 9.4 percent in June.

Unemployment
rates rose in almost all counties of Southwest Michigan in July, with the
exception of Cass and Van Buren counties.

Leonidas
Murembya, labor market analyst for the Bureau of Labor Market Information and
Strategic Initiatives of Southwest Michigan, wrote in his report that Jackson
County's unemployment rate sits at 0.1 percent above the state average of 9.7
percent.

Nonfarm
payroll jobs in Jackson County fell by 1,200 in July, according to Murembya's
report. Exactly 600 of the 1,200 jobs that were lost were due to seasonal
layoffs of support staff at private and public schools, he wrote.